IEW Reflection
For International Education Week I participated in the Chinese calligraphy workshop, lead by Gong lao shi. I attended the workshop with my good friend and Chinese language partner, Tracy Wu. The workshop was a great opportunity, not only to practice my spoken language skills outside of the classroom and fulfill the course requirement for our seminar, but also to experiment with a skill and an art form I have never had formal training in. While I have been writing Chinese characters for nearly three and a half years in an academic setting, the opportunity to apply this skill in the form of calligraphy had not presented itself to me prior to International Education Week. The experience, though extraordinarily engaging and enjoyable, proved to be quite a challenge. My hand, trained to write characters in a distinct and utilitarian manner, found it difficult to transition to a more fluid and artistic style of penmanship. Controlling the brush with an overhand grip seemed to wipe away years of muscle memory, and produced a sloppy and barely recognizable rendition of the ordinarily beautiful Chinese language. Tracy on the other hand, who has studied calligraphy for fifteen years, was the star of the workshop. Her beautifully transcribed idioms, which now hang on the wall of my dorm room, put my work to shame. The workshop inspired my to further devolve and explore an alternate vantage point on my Chinese language learning experience, and served as an important lesson on how our unique culture backgrounds can yield beautiful results. I also have a personal connection to the content of the workshop. My mother’s side of the family, particularly my grandmother’s contingency, comes from a long time of Chinese scholars. Integral to this academic tradition, which is passed down generation by generation, is the art of Chinese penmanship. Growing up, while helping me with my Chinese school homework, my grandmother would test me on my characters and their stroke order, just as my great-grandparents did for my mom when she was growing up. Going forward I feel motivated to put forth more time into working on this skill, and anticipate a time when I can produce beautiful calligraphy in keeping with my family before me.
